Close Reading“I don’t understand it, and I don’t like what I

don’t understand.” - E. B. White, Charlotte’s Web

Close Reading is….

“Close Reading – an intensive analysis of a text in order to come to terms with what it says, how it says it, and what it means.”

Tim Shanahan

Close Reading is….

“Focused, sustained reading and rereading of a text for the purpose of understanding key points, gathering evidence, and building knowledge.”

Pearson

Why is marking a book indispensable to reading it?

1. It keeps you awake – not merely conscious, but wide awake.

2. Reading, if it is active, is thinking, and thinking tends to express itself in words, spoken or written. The person who says he knows what he thinks but cannot express it usually does not know what he thinks.

3. Writing your reactions down helps you to remember the thoughts of the author.

“Reading with a pencil.”

Annotation is a note of any form made while

reading text.

Annotation slows down the reader in order to

deepen understanding.

Close Reading. WHAT should you annotate? The possibilities are limitless. Keep in mind the reasons we annotate. Your annotations must include comments (evidence of thinking).• Have a conversation with the text. Talk back to it.• Ask questions (essential to active reading). You need to try to answer them

as well.• Comment on the actions or development of a character. Does the character

change? Why? How? The result?• Comment on lines / quotations you think are especially significant,

powerful, or meaningful.• Express agreement or disagreement.• Summarize key events.• Make predictions.• Connect ideas to each other or to other texts.• Note if you experience an epiphany. [the Aha! moment]• Note anything you would like to discuss or do not understand.

During Reading

• Note how the author uses language (literary devices, rhetorical devices, style). Note the significance if you can:– effects of word choice (diction) or sentence structure or type (syntax)– point of view [perspective / narrator type] / effect– repetition of words, phrases, actions, events, patterns– narrative pace / time / order of sequence of events– Irony– allusions– any other figure of speech or literary device– tone / mood– imagery– themes– setting / historical period– symbols

• The most common complaint about annotating is that it slows down your reading. Yes, it does. That’s the point. If annotating as you read annoys you, read a chapter, then go back and annotate. Reading a text a second time is preferable anyway.

During Reading

• Make brief comments in the margins or between lines of the text.• Circle or put boxes, triangles, or clouds around words or phrases.• Use abbreviations or symbols – brackets, stars (multiple stars for

varying degrees of importance), exclamation points, question marks, numbers, etc.

• Connect words, phrases, ideas, circles, boxes, etc. with lines or arrows.• Underline – CAUTION: Use this method sparingly. Underline only a few

words. Always combine with another method such as comment. Never underline an entire passage. Doing so takes too much time and loses effectiveness. If you wish to mark an entire paragraph or passage, draw a line down the margin or use brackets.

• Highlight – use CAUTION – don’t highlight everything!• Create your own color code.• Use post-it notes ONLY if you have exhausted all available space

(unlikely) [or don’t own the book]

How to Annotate

• Left Margin – Summary1. What is the text saying? (Summarize)

• Right Margin – Analysis2. How does the text say it? (POV, dialogue, WC, literary

devices)3. What does the text mean? (theme, character analysis,

setting)4. What does the text mean to me?• Text to Self – What does the text remind me of in my life?• Text to Text – What does the text remind me of in other texts?• Text to World – What does the text remind me of in the real

world?

Questions to Ask…

How to AnnotateSymbol Comments/Questions/Response

? • Questions I have• Confusing parts for me

+ • Ideas/statements I agree with

- • Ideas/statements I disagree with

* • Significant Ideas

! • Shocking statements or parts• Emotional parts

ο • Ideas/sections you connect with• What this reminds you of

People have been annotating texts since there have been

texts to annotate.

Annotation is not highlighting.

Student’s annotation of connotative meanings in Charlotte’s Web

Modeled annotation in Seventh Grade

Modeling in 9th

Grade English

Student annotation in 11th grade English